Previous
Foil
Definition of Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition
Part 2: The Postman: Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Messing Up:
Part 2, Chapter 3 briefly turns fraught and fragile with foreshadowing. As Jude anxiously awaits his adoption during the weeks leading to the ceremony, he shares some of his concerns with Willem:
But Willem knew more of the truth, and he knew Willem knew that this was his most impossible, his most fervent desire. "Jude, that’s amazing. How do you feel?"
He tried to laugh. "Like I’m going to mess it up."
"You won’t." They were both quiet.
The moment is weighted with tension. Jude’s assertion hangs delicately between them, delivering a prophesy that seemingly carries some dreadful truth. Before Jude has even signed the adoption documents, the novel seems to prime the reader for disaster. Given the full range of Jude’s suffering, yet another tragic turn might be entirely plausible; for a story that has seen pedophiles and sadists, A Little Life refuses to make any promises. Jude and the reader brace for horror.
By the end, these fears turn out to be misguided. Harold—despite the novel’s every forecast of betrayal—does not leave Jude. He tends to his son after two attempted suicides, cares for him when Caleb does not, and forgives even when Jude throws tantrums. Jude’s foreshadowing could not be more wrong, speaking volumes instead to his misfortunes and traumatized psychology. For a life in which his hold on joy has been so tenuous, Harold comes as a gift—and a surprise.
Related Themes:
Part 6: Dear Comrade: Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—This Time:
In Part 6, Chapter 2, foreshadowing descends with heavy somberness over the novel. A Little Life’s tragedy never seems to end, and it strikes yet again when Willem dies in a car accident shortly after his 52nd birthday. As he loses another loved one, Jude slips into despair and contemplates ending his life:
At times, it seemed that this promise—this verbal contract—was the only real deterrent to his trying again, although he knew that if he were to do it again, it wouldn’t be an attempt: this time, he would really do it.
He knew how he’d do it; he knew it would work.
This moment follows in the footsteps of his prior suicide attempt, and now he settles down with eerie steadiness as he prepares to kill himself again. This time, he “knew how he’d do it.” Jude’s suicidal ideations foreshadow his death more deeply and urgently than ever before.
Jude would “really do it”—and this time, he does. Chapters later, Harold’s narrative will reveal that Jude had punctured his arteries twice, “sticking himself at least twice, with a needle whose gauge was as thick as a hummingbird’s beak.” Unable to bear life’s sufferings any longer, Jude brings them to an end.
Related Themes:
